Volume One 2. Background however that within a Marlborough context, both the regional and district level resource management functions are undertaken by the Council. National policy statements and national environmental standards National policy statements are prepared by central government and cover matters of national significance. Regional and district-level planning documents prepared under the RMA must give effect to national policy statements. The RMA requires a coastal policy statement (prepared by the Minister of Conservation) to be in place at all times. The RMA also states that the Minister for the Environment may prepare a national policy statement for other matters of national significance. Other than the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010, central government has three approved national policy statements: • National Policy Statement on Electricity Transmission 2008; • National Policy Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation 2011; and • National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014. Central government can also prepare national environmental standards: technical standards relating to the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources. Such national standards provide an opportunity to promote nationally the use of consistent standards, requirements or practices. National standards override existing provisions in plans that require a lesser standard. National environmental standards for air quality, sources of human drinking water, telecommunications facilities, electricity transmission and managing contaminants in soil have effect. For details of specific national policy statements and national environmental standards, refer to the Ministry for the Environment website (www.mfe.govt.nz). Copies of each of the operative national policy statements and national environmental standards are included in Volume 5 of the MEP for information and easy reference. Relationship between the MEP and Long Term Plan Under the Local Government Act 2002, the Council has prepared the 2015-25 Long Term Plan (LTP). This sets out the Council’s strategic directions and programmes for the next 10 years. The LTP provides a description of the significant activities that the Council plans to carry out over the next ten years, the objectives of those activities and their costs. The LTP also identifies 6 Community Outcomes for Marlborough. These outcomes describe Marlborough's potential for the future, as a result of actions taken by the Council now and in years to come. One of the Community Outcomes included in the LTP is “Environment”. The LTP recognises that our social and e conomic wellbeing relies on the quality of our environmen t. Given that the role of the MEP is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources, it has an obvious responsibility to achieve the Community Outcome of Environment. The MEP has also been prepared with regard to other Community Outcomes within the LTP. This will ensure that implementation of the MEP contributes to these outcomes, where possible. The review periods for the LTP and MEP do not necessarily coincide. This means that other community outcomes could have environmental implications that may, in future, conflict with the MEP. This does not mean that resource management decisions must comply with LTP; these decisions must still be made in accordance with the objectives and policies of the MEP and under the framework of the RMA. The LTP also describes how the Council proposes to fund its activities, including the implementation of the methods set out in the MEP. Given the limited funding available, the Council has prioritised these methods. As a result, the methods included in the MEP are those considered essential to achieving the objectives. The LTP is updated every three years; this 2 – 7